The 6-foot-10 forward came to the Colorado men's basketball team as a freshman in 2012 with a lot of confidence and then backed it up by earning all-freshman team honors in the Pac-12 Conference.

A year ago, he spent his offseason packing on 20 pounds of muscle, which only added to his confidence. He backed that up with a stellar season that landed him on the first team for All-Pac-12 honors.

As he now prepares for his junior year, Scott is nowhere near satisfied. He wants more.

"I'd like to be first-team Pac-12, but I'd like to be an All-American next year," he said. "I think if I put in the same work (as last summer), I have a chance to do that.

"Anything I can do to help the team get better is something I need to do. I know all the other guys feel the same way."

This past season, Scott established himself as one of the premier post players in the Pac-12. He averaged 14.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and was a double-double threat every game. He finished with 13 double-doubles and came close numerous other times.

"Obviously Josh was a force and demanded a double team basically every night," CU assistant coach Mike Rohn said. "There are very few guys like that in the country. That obviously shows we've got something established there."

During his freshman season, Scott started 30 games and gave the Buffs a nice presence inside, as he posted 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

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Rohn said he was impressed with Scott's improved rebounding this past season. That may have been the biggest improvement Scott made, but it certainly wasn't the only one.

Scott became a much better shooter (connecting on 51.1 percent of his shots, compared to 48.6 percent as a freshman) and did so despite taking more outside shots than he did a year ago. He also saw his free throw percentage jump from 74.7 as freshman to 81.0 as a sophomore.

"All of those things, because I was stronger it helped me become a little more aggressive, a little more confident in what I was doing on the court," he said. "It all benefited me.

"I accomplished all of my preseason goals and on a personal level, I was happy seeing all my hard work pay off."

It was well documented that Scott added the extra weight before last season. He weighed in at 245 before the year, but finished at 233.

A couple of weeks into the offseason program, Scott said his goal for next year is to play consistently at 250 pounds. He was at 237 last week and said he hopes to get to around 255 before the season.

While he's doing that, he plans to work on his overall game.

"Offseasons are exciting to me," he said. "You get to work on your game and do things that you wouldn't get to do during the season."

Like he did a year ago, Scott will live in Boulder this summer, so he can be close to the CU facilities and train with CU staff. In addition to added bulk, Scott said he wants to improve his shooting range and his ball-handling skills so he can "go one-on-one next year."

The junior-to-be needs to work on his passing.

Particularly late in the season, double teams hampered Scott. Opponents realized they could double him and take him away. When that happened, Scott struggled to pass out of the double teams. When he did, the Buffs didn't help him much, as they struggled with their shooting as a team.

"If he's got two guys on him, somebody is open," Rohn said. "That ball has to quickly find that guy and then that guy has to make the shot. If we don't shoot the ball well, they're going to keep doubling him. It's intertwined. But, his passing needs to definitely improve."

Scott agrees. He had just 22 assists last year, which was the lowest on the team among those who played at least 600 minutes.

"I have to get better at the passes and seeing (teammates)," Scott said.

Should Scott make the same type of improvement he made a year ago, there's no telling how could he could be next year.

"If that continues, the sky is the limit for him," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "The thing about Josh is he expects a lot of himself, he's got great work ethic, he's determined, he conscientious. He's a coach's dream."

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story